Ram Vilas Paswan died on Thursday at the age of 74 in a private hospital.
New Delhi:
In politics, the people you support can sometimes forget you, but if you attack a group they will never forget you and never forgive you, Ram Vilas Paswan said in an informal meeting when someone explained to him the secret of goodwill and warm equations that he appreciated. through parties with ideological shades and contrasting communities.
This core of Ram Vilas Paswan’s political philosophy very well defined the Dalit leader who may never have been a king, but as a kingsmaker he outlived many kings in his illustrious career of over five decades.
Veteran chef Dalit died on Thursday at the age of 74 in a private hospital where he had recently undergone heart surgery.
Ram Vilas Paswan believed in making friends and investing in relationships and was proud to describe himself as a consolidating force among, at times, warring allies.
First elected as a Member of Parliament in 1969 as a member of an anti-Congress front after leaving his police post, he rose through the ranks of various socialist parties, which changed form with a periodic interval, and is become a leader. Dalit face.
Born in Khagaria, Bihar in 1946, Ram Vilas Paswan was elected eight times in Lok Sabha and was currently a member of Rajya Sabha.
KC Tyagi of Janatal Dal (United), who was with Ram Vilas Paswan in the Lok Dal led by Charan Singh for years and described him as a socialist colleague over 45, said party founder Lok Janshakti had played a key role in consolidating the Dalits in northern India and remaining their voice.
He was one of the key ministers in the VP Singh government, which came to power in 1989, and pushed for the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, which recommended reserving for other backward classes, upsetting the pivot of the political, especially in Hindi speaking states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh forever.
Ram Vilas Paswan’s simplicity and sincerity will remain exemplary, Mr. Tyagi said.
It is an ode to his politics who believed in building bridges between social or political divisions that he was one of the most valued state leaders among the upper castes, even as he drew his support mainly Dalits, a group that sometimes shared antagonistic relationships with the more prosperous communities for a number of social and political reasons.
It is also a tribute to his worth as a politician and his warm acceptance among parties as contrasting in their ideologies like Congress and the BJP that he was courted by rivals like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi and has served as a valuable minister in the BJP-led La NDA as well as the Congress-led UPA governments.
When he left the Vajpayee government due to his growing differences with the Saffron Party, he also attacked the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, but when he joined the BJP led by Modi in 2014, he was quickly became a trusted colleague of the Prime Minister. minister, especially on Dalit issues.
Critics have sometimes called him a “ mausam vaigyanik ” (meteorologist) for his ability to forge his way into an alliance that would come to power after the election.
However, many thought it was oversimplifying and noted that he was almost forced to quit the UPA in 2014 after Lalu Prasad’s RJD thought the Lok Janshakti party should not get it. more than three seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
However, his death could not have come at a worse time for his 37-year-old son, Chirag Paswan, who now heads the party his father founded in 2000.
No longer a part of the ruling Democratic National Alliance in Bihar, Chirag Paswan faces the JD (U) of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as well as the opposition alliance in assembly polls and will miss the experience of his father to skillfully navigate several of those crises in the past.
Ram Vilas Paswan’s death could also trigger an upsurge in support for his descendant among his party’s supporters and sympathizers.
